So why has Google had, to borrow the title of a classic children's book, a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year?

Competition gets tougher: Facebook has seemed to steal some of Google's momentum in the online advertising market.

Google is still the worldwide leader, with a 31% share of overall digital ad revenue this year, according to figures from research firm eMarketer. But Google's share slid a bit while Facebook's jumped from about 6% to nearly 8%.

Facebook is also gaining ground on Google in mobile too. The social network's mobile ad market share rose to about 18.5% this year from under 17% a year ago. Google's mobile market share dropped from 47% in 2013 to 40.5% this year.

There are also growing concerns that Facebook is going to take away online video revenue from Google's YouTube. Facebook has aggressively boosted its video efforts.

The resurgence of Apple is also a negative for Google, whose Android mobile operating system is the main rival to Apple's iOS.

Leading Android partner Samsung has been losing market share this year while Apple has its cool factor back thanks to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Google also made several acquisitions this year that could help boost its revenue streams beyond advertising but may seem like odd, risky bets to average investors.

The $3.2 billion purchase of connected devices maker Nest for $3.2 billion, as well as the acquisitions of drone maker Titan Aerospace and satellite company Skybox Imaging, could wind up being really smart decisions for the future.

But the deals also reinforce the perception that Google is a company that is willing to throw a lot of spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.

Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility in 2012 did not. Google sold a big chunk of Motorola to Chinese hardware giant Lenovo(LNVGY) earlier this year for a fraction of what it paid just two years ago.

That works fine when you're privately held but can be a problem when shareholders are more focused on short-term profits over longer-term strategic planning.

Overreaction? Google has been down this road before. Shareholders were skeptical of deals like YouTube and ad network DoubleClick in Google's early stages as a public company. Those acquisitions have more than paid off.

The company still is the dominant player in online advertising, even if it is starting to lose some market share. And it's not as if the company is in tough financial shape either.